16 December 1945

[namvet]

the battle of the bulge begins



correction. 1944

 

[whitehall]

Ike was attending a Christmas party. The rumor of "home for Christmas" went around and the Troops were in a good mood. Apparently the unit that passed for "Army Intelligence" was passed out in some bunker and those annoying heavy equipment sounds coming from the German front were just figments of the imagination. The media went into spin mode after the battle began and all America learned (and history recorded) was the heroic stuff while it was the most notorious intelligence failure in history. About 20,000 Americans died because Ike and the administration thought the war was over. Ike should have been relieved of duty but the media propped him up for the morale.